Downloading Harry Potter
by Mrs.InsaneOne
Summary: The Golden Trio have the run of #4 Privet Dr. Content to be away from his overbearing relatives; Harry introduces Ron to the joys of the internet. HP, RW, HG, no real pairings, mild language, mild violence. COMPLETE
1. Home Alone At Last

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies - this is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Summary: **_Harry, Ron, and Hermione have the run of #4 Privet Drive when the Dursley's leave town for an open ended trip. Content to be away from his overbearing relatives, Harry introduces Ron to the joys of Dudley's computer and this thing called the internet._

**AN: **_This story was originally written in response to a challenge introducing the trio to the world of Fanfiction by Pureblood Muggle SAYS and originally posted on. I hope you enjoy the story. – __**Jenn

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**Chapter 1: Home Alone At Last**

Harry leaned out the window as inconspicuously as he could, straining to catch a glimpse of his aunt and uncle as they packed the car with several suitcases. Behind him Hermione and Ron were waiting for Harry's signal with baited breath as they watch him through the half open door of Harry's wardrobe. Echoing through the house is the unmistakable roaring whine of Dudley, Harry's cousin, as he throws the biggest tantrum in years.

A thundering of footsteps rattle the upstairs bedrooms and Harry darts away from the window and lands on his bed, stomach down, as the footsteps come to a stop outside his bedroom door. He tries to slow his rapidly beating heart as the rattling clicks of multiple locks being keyed open is heard from just outside his door. Hermione eased the wardrobe closed as the last lock is undone and the bedroom door swings inward to reveal the beefy and very purple face of Harry's Uncle Vernon. Harry sucked in a calming breath and casually rolled over so he could meet the angry, and somewhat shocked, glare of his uncle.

"We're going," Uncle Vernon barks out in a high-pitched strangled voice. "I don't know how long we'll be gone, but don't think we can't come back at any time – day or night!"

"Fine," Harry replies as evenly as he can.

"You're to stay out of our food," Vernon continued, "I've laid out enough rations to feed an army for a month." Meaning Aunt Petunia had set out a single loaf of stale bread, a half empty jar of peanut butter, two old and slightly wilted apples, and a tin of crackers on the counter where Harry could not miss seeing them. "I expect it to last you the entire time we're gone, and then some, boy. You're not to leave the house, nor are you allowed to have any of... of your... your kind over while we're gone. I don't want any _freaks_ setting foot in my house. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Harry ground out, his own temper flaring slightly with embarrassment as he realized that Ron and Hermione could hear every word his uncle was saying.

Vernon glared at Harry for nearly a full minute, as if making certain Harry was being truthful and sincere, before storming away in a huff. Harry counted his uncle's retreating footsteps for half a minute before leaping off the bed and returning to his previous position at the window. Two heartbeats later, as the front door slammed shut, he saw his aunt and uncle half shoving Dudley into the back seat of his uncle's car. A minute later the engine shrieked into life and the Dursley's fairly flew out of the drive way as they left for their 'vacation'.

Harry let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and called warmly to his two best friends. "Ron, Hermione, you can come out now, they're gone."

"I thought they were never going to leave," Ron commented as the wardrobe door practically shot off its hinges.

"How can they be so horrible to you when their son is the one that is causing all the trouble?" Hermione asked belligerently as she stepped out of the small cupboard after Ron.

"Ah, but Diddykins is the apple of their eye," Harry quipped with feigned reverence, "And, me? I'm just a nasty bit o' foul, loathsome rubbish that stains their otherwise untarnished lives."

"Harry!" Hermione gasped, somewhat shocked at the bitterness that laced Harry's voice as he spoke of himself. "How can you think that?"

"Oh, I didn't say I thought it," Harry countered with a sad grin. "I was just pointing out the truth of how they feel about me. It's nothing new, Hermione, after all; my aunt hated my mother back when she was still alive."

"It's horrible though," Hermione insisted, "that after all this time, they can still be so blind to who you really are."

"Some people are just like that," Ron pointed out a bit philosophically. "Take Percy for example, even though he was proved wrong he has still yet to admit he made a mistake in judgment during our fifth year. Never once has he offered up an apology for the way he treated mum and dad."

Harry and Hermione glanced over at Ron and blinked for a few moments, letting his deeper then usual comment have a few minutes to sink in. Ron blushed and shrugged his shoulders, obviously reading what his best friends were thinking.

"Come on, let's forget about the Dursleys and go find out what they have so graciously left us for rations," Harry commanded with a grin as he draped an arm around each of their shoulders and steered them towards the door.

In the kitchen Harry found that the rations were much as he had expected them to be, though there were a few slight differences; half a loaf of stale bread – looking slightly moldy on the heel end, two very squishy peaches that were oozing thick, fermented juice all over the counter, a cracker tin full of crumbs, a head of wilted lettuce, and a bottle of mustard. Oh, and hiding behind the lettuce was a sorry bunch of grapes that could have been better described as a bunch of near raisins still hanging desperately onto the vine.

Ron gagged noisily at the site of the near rotting food and Hermione offered Harry a pitying glance filled with compassion. Harry simply sighed and slid the entire lot of it into the rubbish bin and turned on the kitchen sink and let it run until the water was nearly too hot to the touch, and then he wet a wash cloth and wiped up the sticky juice from the fruit to prevent the liquid from staining the counter or attracting ants – both of which would have earned him punishment from his aunt and uncle.

"Good thing mum is sending us some food later tonight, we'd have starved if we'd have had to eat all that," Ron pointed out as he wrinkled his nose and sniffed forcefully to rid the rancid stench from his nose.

Harry fidgeted in embarrassment under the steady gaze of his friends, his face flushed as he stared at the floor for a few minutes. The awkwardness wouldn't last too long though, and in next to no time Harry was giving Ron the 'Muggle Tour' while Hermione tagged along and helped him to explain everyday items such as dishwashers, microwaves, and electric stoves.

Ron of course got a kick out of the television, disdained the simple radio – the wireless was better in his opinion – and wasn't completely sure of the purpose of the broken pellet gun that occupied Harry's wardrobe (the one Dudley had broken all those years ago when he'd sat on it.)

There was one item that drew Ron like bees to honey, and that was Dudley's newest computer – a fancy new top-of-the-line machine that was reported to be the very best on the current market. One hundred and twenty gigs of hard drive space, a full gig of RAM, a DVD/CD burner, stereo surround complete with sub, and a huge twenty–one inch flat panel monitor with picture quality that rivaled the portable TV down in the kitchen.

"What does it do though?" Ron asked as Harry pushed the power button and the machine whirred and hummed as it warmed up.

"Anything you want it too, short of do magic and write your essays," Harry answered with a huge grin on his face.

Ron reached out to touch the monitor, only to jump back when the screen flashed blue. Harry just laughed again and sat down in Dudley's chair as he picked up the keyboard and turned it over. Attached to the back was a small slip of paper that had the word _BigDsBabeFinder_ scrawled across it in Dudley's sloppy hand. Hermione mouthed the words silently, a look of revulsion on her face, as Harry flipped the keyboard right side up and entered the password to log on the machine.

As the computer loaded the admin settings, Harry grinned as his two friends and asked, "What should we do first? Play a few games or surf the net?"

"Why would you surf on a net? Wouldn't it sink?" Ron inquired in confusion.

"You don't actually surf on a net Ron; it's just an expression that is used when Muggles look up information on the network. Computers all over the world share information – oh that is just gross!" Hermione began lecturing only to stop when Dudley's background image – which happened to be a picture of a half-dressed woman –loaded up onto the monitor. "Your cousin is a pig, Harry."

"You can say that again," Harry muttered as his cheeks, and Ron's, flushed bright red – though Ron seemed to be interested in looking much closer until Hermione socked him in the shoulder. "I wonder if Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia know what Dudders has on his computer."

Without waiting for an answer, Harry opened an Internet Explorer window and covered the offending image before looking over his shoulder at Ron and Hermione and repeating his earlier question. "Games or the internet?"


	2. Startling Discoveries

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies - this is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**AN: **_This story was originally written in response to a challenge by Pureblood Muggle SAYS and originally posted on. I hope you enjoy the story. – __**Jenn**_

**

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Chapter 2: Startling Discoveries**

"Games," Ron prompted firmly.

"Games it is," Harry echoed as he opened up the start menu and quickly navigated through the shortcuts and opened the Alien Annihilation game that Dudley used to play constantly when he was younger. After showing Ron how to work the keyboard controls, he moved out of the way so he could play a few rounds. It took a few tries, but in no time at all, Ron was blasting away aliens with a deft hand as he exclaimed 'Not much different then tossing Quaffles and avoiding Bludgers.' as he pounded away on the keypad.

Hermione and Harry laughed and shouted advice for a while before Ron grew bored and Hermione took her turn. She only played one or two rounds before closing out that game and opening up the Pinball Arcade, which she was very good at, and played a few rounds until Ron asked her to show him how to play that one.

Two hours they played games, Harry and Hermione taking turn teaching Ron how to play each time they started a new game. They would have played longer, if not for the unexpected arrival of Mrs. Weasley and a huge box full of food – enough to feed a small army or two (much too much to send by owl, of course) – which she graciously carried up to Harry's room where it would be safely hidden should the Dursley's return early.

Harry thanked her profusely while Ron dug into the food and exclaimed over the meat pies, fresh baked breads, roast chickens (at least three), a good sized rump roast, and several cakes, pies, tarts, and at least two batches of cookies. Harry asked her to stay for supper, but she declined profusely before hugging each of them tightly and admonishing them to stay out of trouble, before she left as quickly as she'd arrived.

Another hour or so ticked by as they devoured the small feast, Ron and Harry expounding on the intricacies of wiping out alien invasions while Hermione sniffed and ate in silence, only speaking to point out how quickly each of the boys died during their numerous games.

When they finished, they carefully packed up all of the extra food and tucked it safely away into his wardrobe before heading downstairs. Ron had talked Harry into watching television for a while and the three of them curled up on the sofa as the latest sitcom played out before them.

Episode after episode reeled out, with commercials and late breaking news liberally sprinkled throughout the shows. Ron found some of the commercials more interesting then the actual programs – though none of them compared to the slogans that Fred and George had come up with for Weasley's Wizardly Wheezes, their joke shop. Eventually though, the hours dragged them down into the world of sleep as the television blared on – expounding on the miraculous properties of Gold Bond Medicated Cream.

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Harry was the first to wake in the morning, his neck aching from sleeping half over the arm of the couch. The TV was still going full tilt – this time the newscaster was predicting a rather rough storm that was supposed to hit Majorca later this evening. _I hope that doesn't change their mind and make them turn tail and come back._ Harry thought to himself as he considered the frame of mind his relatives were in.

Putting all thoughts of Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley out of his mind, he turned off the television and stretched out his cramped muscles before heading up stairs to wash up and change clothes. He was just stepping out of the shower when Hermione called to him from the foot of the stairs asking him where she could clean up as well. Directing her to his aunt and uncle's bathroom (Dudley had destroyed the bathroom in the hall); he hurried back into his room and began digging through the leftovers from the night before for their breakfast.

He needn't have bothered though, for no sooner had he trampled down the stairs, with a huge armful of food, then Mrs. Weasley appeared from the kitchen to announce that she'd brought breakfast with her. Harry stammered out a protest that she hadn't needed to, but Mrs. Weasley shushed him and commanded him to wake Ron before the food got cold. By the time the trio was seated around the table wolfing down bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, and country fried potatoes, Mrs. Weasley was gone again.

"So what're we gonna do today?" Ron asked between bites, for once not speaking through a mouthful of food.

"We should do some research, we have all the books we brought with us," Hermione suggested insistently as she leaned forward and gestured wildly with her fork. "We don't have much time left and we need to learn as much as we can about the remaining horcruxes and their locations."

"Can't we fish in a net on the click pad of the komputor," Ron asked with a groan as he remembered carrying several of those books up to Harry's room by way of the tree right outside the window the other night.

"It's a computer Ron, and you don't fish on it," Hermione explained for the hundredth time. "You use the key pad to type out the words you want to use – type out the commands that you want the computer to carry out. We could, however, make good use of the internet and see if we can't pull up maps, weather charts, and known history of all the places we will need to look."

"I doubt we'll get much more then that from the internet," Harry remarked as he scarfed down his last piece of bacon. "After all, the net is a part of the Muggle world, not the wizarding world."

Twenty-two minutes later the three of them were once more sitting in front of the computer, Hermione balancing a book on her lap, while they waited for the computer to finish booting up. When the picture of the half naked woman appeared on the screen, Harry quickly opened up a web browser before switching on the DSL modem that Uncle Vernon had had installed shortly after the computer had been set up.

In just a few second Harry was typing in the location of a castle that Hermione wanted information on, then clicked enter and waited while the search engine did all of the work. Ron was amazed at the number of entries that had been found and that not one ounce of magic had gone into providing any of the information posted upon the pages that floated on the screen in front of him.

They spent the rest of the day in front of that computer, hunting for rumors of this place and histories of that city or that castle, breaking only long enough to eat a hearty lunch, followed by a light tea, and ending up with a feast like supper that Mrs. Weasley had Bill deliver. Bill actually stayed to join them for supper and they shared news back and forth – Bill keeping them updated on the Order's movements, his upcoming wedding to Fleur, and rumors of Voldemort's activities. In return Harry, with Hermione correcting him every few minutes, gave a return report and the progress they had been making with possible locations of the horcruxes – something that was actually going much faster with the help of Dudley's computer.

Bill left immediately after supper though, eager to return to his fiancée's side and the trio headed back upstairs to bury themselves in the research once more; Hermione taking up one of the largest of the books she'd brought and Ron scribbling down notes while Harry skimmed through web page after web page. Once again it was well after midnight when they dragged themselves off to bed; Hermione taking Harry's bed while he and Ron shared Dudley's huge queen-size bed – after changing the sheets and pillow cases of course.

The next two days passed much the same for them – one Order member or another delivering food at least once a day, passing information back and forth between the dragging hours of research and the occasional game or television show to relieve the monotony of the long hours spent over book or in front of the computer.

On the third day they had exhausted the search for possible locations and were prepared to focus solely on the books for references to the actual items that Dumbledore had suspected Voldemort had turned into horcruxes. Only, Ron pleaded unceasingly until both Harry and Hermione gave into his desire to search the internet first.

"Please? Can't you just try a Gaggle search for information on them?" Ron begged. "Think how much faster it would be if we could find the information on the komputor instead of digging through moldy old books!"

"Fine," Harry eventually gave in, "but I doubt we'll pull up much, if anything. What should search for first?"

"This is just a waste of time," Hermione insisted indignantly – she held more faith in the books that were piled around her. "Might as well search for '_Harry Potter_' and expect to get results."

"Why not?" Ron countered, a grin snaking across his face as he swung his eyes between Hermione and the computer screen. "Bet cha we get more results for Harry's name then we do yours!"

"I doubt searching either name will help us find what we're looking for," Harry tried to point out politely in an effort to avoid the argument that was brewing.

He failed. Miserably. As first Hermione and then Ron glared daggers at him. Sighing and cursing the fate that had landed him with two best friends who seemed to much rather prefer killing each other then anything else in the world. Harry immediately smiled to himself at the thought though, his fondness for both of his friends stronger then any annoyance their stormy relationship brought.

"Harry Potter it is," He announced gamely as he typed out his name and hit enter. Ron grinned smugly and Hermione sniffed imperiously and then all three of them gasped as the search generated over sixty-five million matches. His name leaped out at him in each truncated summary as did the words _magic, Hogwarts, and many other names and places _he recognized_._

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered frightfully as his name, and Hermione's, cropped up more then once in addition to Dumbledore's and Sirius's.

"What is all of that rubbish?" Hermione demanded hoarsely right on top of Ron's exclamation.


	3. Spell of Written Words

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies - this is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Summary: **_Harry, Ron, and Hermione have the run of #4 Privet Drive when the Dursley's leave town for an open ended trip. Content to be away from his overbearing relatives, Harry introduces Ron to the joys of Dudley's computer and this thing called the internet._

**AN: **_Here's the third chapter, I've also gone back and corrected one or two small grammatical errors in the last chapter that were pointed out to me in reviews. Speaking of reviews, if I've not answered yours yet, I'll be doing that this weekend as it's been an extremely busy week. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. – __**Jenn

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**_

**Chapter 3: Spell of Written Words**

"Who is J.K.R.?" Harry asked numbly as he stared at the monitor in front of him, his name paired side by side with hers in nearly every summary, in practically every bold title. A cold sweat broke out on his brow as his name was linked time and time again to that of Voldemort's and to Dumbledore's.

"I don't know, Harry," Hermione replied after a minute. "This makes no sense, how could the Muggle world know anything about you? About us? About any part of our world?"

"Bloody hell," Ron repeated, his jaw gaping as he too continued to stare at the monitor. "Do you think the Muggles have spies in our world? Maybe the komputor is really full of dark magic and it's feeding us lies to make us afraid of what the Muggles know."

"Don't be thick, Ron," Harry countered with a shake of his head. "There's no magic involved with the computers – or uncle Vernon would have never brought one into the house let alone purchased a new one every two years or so to replace the ones Dudley broke. Though, the spy theory is entirely possible – however unlikely it would seem. I suppose Muggleborns could be tempted, or maybe their friends and family spread the word unintentionally."

"Oh, that's rich, Harry," Hermione snapped irritably, "blame my parents."

"I wasn't blaming you or your parents, Hermione," Harry shot back over his shoulder. "I was simply saying it wouldn't be too hard for someone to make an accidental slip – you are far from the only Muggleborn to ever get into accepted into Hogwarts. Not to mention all of the children who come from mixed families where a witch or wizard married a Muggle. Maybe we can find our answers by reading through some of these sites."

"I still think it's a complete waste of time," Hermione sniffed as she gathered the book on her lap into her arms protectively.

"Why? Shouldn't we find out just how much these Muggles with their net traps know?" Ron demanded in turn, his eyes defiant and he stared back at Hermione, daring her to refute his words.

"Fine," Hermione ground out in resignation as she dropped her eyes down to the book she cradled in her arms. "But I'm going to go do something useful."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shook their heads as if to say _'Girls, they are predictably unpredictable and bound to balk and complain about any idea you put forth.'_ and shrugged their shoulders before Harry moved over so Ron could get closer to the screen.

Picking a random link and opening it in a new window the two of them poured over _The Official Harry Potter Website_, and soon found images that were supposed to represent them and many of their fellow students, professors, family, and Death Eaters. They also learned that this J.K.R. person had written a series of books about Harry's life and that those books had been made into movies!

"That actor boy looks ever scrawnier then you do," Ron pointed out as they studied the pictures.

"Yeah, and the guy they have playing you is far too short and just slightly on the pudgy side, though he does resemble you a bit," Harry calmly countered as he used the mouse to point out the features they described.

They spent another twenty minutes browsing that site before deciding to go back to the Google search and pulling up a new site. This time they picked a random link from the third page of the listing and were transported to a page that claimed to have over thirty-eight thousand Harry Potter related stories archived. Stories called fan fiction or fanfics as the site claimed.

"Fanfic?" Ron quoted doubtfully. "What in the world is a fanfic?"

"Well, it says that they are stories written by fans," Harry explained as he read through the page quickly.

"You have even more fans?" Ron demanded in a huff.

"Muggle fans?" Harry asked back, his expression filled with doubt. He glanced over and saw the frozen expression on Ron's face, an expression he'd seen numerous over the years since he'd first met Ron – his best friend was jealous of his fame. Hoping for something to find something to cheer up his best friend and avoid anything else coming between their friendship, Harry did a quick search for _Ron Weasley_ under the "Story Search" function and to his amazement and infinite relief, thousands of stories featuring Ron as a main character were pulled up. "I guess I'm not the only one with an online fan club now."

"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he saw his name reflected on the screen time and time again. "I wonder what these are all about."

"You," Harry joked back and he picked a random story and read it aloud. "_In a desperate struggle for life, Ron Weasley must face his darkest fears in order to save the one he loves from certain death while coming to terms with the loss of his long standing friendship with Harry Potter. Can Ron cope with the stress? Will he resist the lure of the Dark Arts, or will Harry have to face a new Dark Lord while losing the woman he loves at the same time. A RW/HG and HP/HG fic_."

"What?" Ron gasped, his face draining of color. "What is that supposed to mean? What about that one above it?"

Harry frowned at the screen before reading the summary that Ron pointed out. "_Follow Ron as he learns about his feelings in a stormy relationship with Lavender. Will Won-Won survive or will reason prevail?_"

"I don't know if that is any better," Ron said, his face now flushing in embarrassment. "Look up something else."

Harry didn't answer him right away, maneuvering the mouse as he jumped from page to page, reading snippets from one story and another – all of them about Ron's love life, Ron betraying him, of himself fighting with Ron over a girl, of Ron dating Hermione, or Luna, or _Pansy?_ Than there were ones that had Ron with children, Ron going back in time, Ron and Hermione getting married and divorced, and Ron as a Quidditch star.

"Please, Harry, look up your name again," Ron pleaded, his face now green as he read over Harry's shoulder.

"Er, right," Harry agreed, pulling up his name now. There were twice as many stories (many of them linked with Ron and Hermione's name) but Ron didn't seem to care this time, his thoughts obviously elsewhere.

"I thought you broke up with Ginny," Ron stated as he caught a few summary's that had his sister's name in them – his awkwardness fading as he frowned and leaned closer to the monitor in an effort to read more of one particular story summary. "You got my sister pregnant? And left her?"

"No!" Harry denied, "I'm not even going out with her right now! We never even – Ron, why would I do something like that?"

"Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George will help me hex you from here to Romania and back if you're telling me tales just to save your arse," Ron growled back, his face turning red as he became indignant over the idea of Harry compromising his sister and leaving her to deal with the consequences. "Tell me true, did you break it off with her because of this?"

"Ron, I did not, and I am telling you the truth," Harry answered with exasperation as he spun his chair around to frown back at Ron. "I didn't accuse you of all those things those people were saying you did. What's gotten into you?"

"You'd better be telling the truth – there's at least eight of those story things saying the same thing – and you can bet I'll ask Ginny if you're lying or not!" Ron yelled as he jumped out of his feet and glared at Harry. "She's younger then you and she doesn't deserve to be treated like that. Just 'cause you're famous is no reason to toy with her feelings that way and than dump her after you've taken advantage of her instead of taking care of her and the kid."

"Don't be thick, Ron," Harry snapped as he folded his arms and matched Ron glare for glare. "Ask Ginny all you want. _I. Didn't. Do. Anything._"

"What are you two arguing about?" Hermione inquired as she flounced into the room with a thick, old book in hand – her finger pinched between the pages as a bookmark. "I can't hear myself think over the racket you are making."

"Nothing," Harry barked. "Ron's just jumping to the wrong conclusion."

"It's Harry's Fault," Ron hollered out over Harry's reply, "he got Ginny pregnant and left her!"

"I did not!" Harry cried back as he shot out of his chair and waved his arms around for emphasis. "It's no truer then you turning to Voldemort or Hermione dating Malfoy – get over it!"

"I have no reason to join You-Know-Who," Ron countered loudly while Hermione's eyes bulged as she watched Harry and Ron avidly – her book crushed to her chest in shock, her page now lost. Ron seemed to stop in mid-yell though as his eyes flickered over to Hermione and then back to the computer screen, his brow furrowing even deeper. "Hermione is dating Malfoy?" Confusion caused his voice to shake as he looked back to Hermione, his eyes full of hurt. "Why didn't you tell me you didn't want to be my girlfriend anymore?"

"You two are dating? I thought you were still going out with Lavender?" Harry interjected as he frowned to cover up his surprise.

Hermione blushed furiously at Harry's question, threw Ron an angry, hurt glare and then turned around and stormed out of the room ranting about thick heads and teaspoons.

"Wait, Hermione, we need to talk!" Ron called after her, worry filling his eyes now as he realized what he'd just done. It didn't take more then two seconds for him to dash after her in hopes of clearing everything up.

Harry shook his head and ran his hand over his face in an effort to wash away his frustration at Ron's refusal to see reason. Sighing, he sank back into his chair and frowned over at the monitor where the stories about him taunted him with the strange mixture of truth, lies, and love triangles.


	4. Epilogue: Apologies, Letters, & Laughter

**Disclaimer: **_All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies - this is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Summary: **_Harry, Ron, and Hermione have the run of #4 Privet Drive when the Dursley's leave town for an open ended trip. Content to be away from his overbearing relatives, Harry introduces Ron to the joys of Dudley's computer and this thing called the internet._

**AN: **_I'm sorry this last chapter took so long to post. I'd originally planned to have it up over the weekend when I answered reviews, but came down sick with the flu and am only just feeling well enough to spend a few minutes in front of the computer non related to work. Reviews will be answered right after this is up. This story was originally written in response to a challenge by Pureblood Muggle SAYS and originally posted on. I hope you enjoy the story. – __**Jenn

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**_

**Epilogue: Apologies, Letters, and Laughter**

Harry sat staring at the computer screen without really seeing any of the words or graphics that covered the page that still sat open. His forehead was wrinkled in a combination of pain and frustration as the rise and fall of arguing voices drifted in through the partially closed door. Every so often he'd catch a few of the words that were flying back and forth, but for the most part it was all an unintelligible roar that raged in the background sometimes distracting his thoughts.

"…_can't you… between fact and fiction…?"_  
"_Malfoy? Don't… you… even know…!"_  
"_Why… can't you think… rude…"_

Shaking his head Harry pulled off his glasses and ran a hand over his face in an effort to scrub away the confusion and helplessness that threatened to drown him. After a few minutes, he dropped his hands and glanced at the bright blur that represented the monitor and felt the pressure of the prophecy and missing horcruxes weighing down on him – even as the angry voices continued bickering somewhere down the hall.

"_What about… Lavender, why… tell Harry, and… blurt…?"_  
"_He didn't… spare him… enough to worry about…"_  
"_Oh, that's rich… original… why can't you…?"_  
"_Ginny… trouble she can't… blasted…!"_  
"_Don't… owl… only make… worse! Well… blame me!"_

Harry shook his head and put his glasses back on before turning to the window in time to see the wings of a small owl fluttering away from the house, the tiny bird burdened with a letter that was almost large enough to unbalance it completely. Harry snorted, suspecting the contents of the letter based upon his argument with Ron coupled with the few snatches of the quarrel he'd overheard. Knowing that the situation was quickly escalating out of hand, Harry turned back towards the computer and shut it down. He regretted ever suggesting searching the internet for information, and knew that Hermione would eventually find an opportunity to point out the fact that she'd been against the entire thing right from the beginning.

With a resigned sigh, he reached down, picked up one of the books that Hermione had brought with her from Grimmauld Place, and began searching through it for any information that would help him locate and destroy the remaining horcruxes. The heated argument going on in the other room continued sporadically – a slightly distracting, and annoying, back-drop for Harry's research.

"_You… have no right!"_  
"… _think… a minute… funny way… showing it!"_  
"_What… saying… how… mean?"_

Harry shook his head, closed the book, and placed it on the desk with exaggerated care as he flicked a nervous glance towards the door. _They are picking up steam,_ he thought to himself as he rose to his feet and took a tentative step towards the door. He hesitated briefly, throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder at the now blank monitor, before he bravely hurried to the door and flung it the rest of the way open.

Ron and Hermione were caught off guard as the door crashed open and swung back to hit Harry in the back, knocking him forward into the hall where he tripped over Ron's foot and fell to the floor. Hermione quickly pulled out her wand, crouched protectively over Harry's moaning form and held it at the ready, thinking that someone had attacked Harry. Ron just stood there staring dumbly at Harry lying pathetically on the floor with a confused expression on his face.

A sudden flutter of flapping wings drew all three teens' eyes as an owl flew towards the trio. Ron moaned and gave a quiet whimper as he caught sight of the red parchment the owl carried in its beak. He whimpered a second time when the owl dropped the scarlet letter at his feet and flew away. Smoke seeped from the edges of the envelope and curled lazily into the air as Ron took a single step backwards – the expression on his face terrified.

"You'd better open it, Ron," Hermione announced calmly as she lowered her wand and stared at the smoking letter.

"It's a howler!" Ron gasped as he backed even further away from letter.

"It's no less then you deserved," Hermione remarked scathingly as she glared over at him. "I told you not to send Ginny that letter!"

Ron whimpered again in reply as the smoking howler exploded with a screech and the magnified voice of an irate Ginny Weasley filled the entire house.

"_How dare you ask me such a question Ronald Weasley!?"_ Ginny's voice roared. _"I don't care if you are my brother, if you ever ask me such a thing again I will personally hex you so thoroughly that you will wish you'd never been born!"_

Ron paled considerably, and he swallowed a nervous groan at the thought of being on the receiving end of one of his sister's curses. Hermione simply crossed her arms and glared at him with a half triumphant smirk that said '_I told you so._' Harry though, wasn't sure if he should be as worried as Ron or if he should laugh as the howler burst into a thousand pieces and fluttered to the floor, Ginny's final words still echoing down the hall. In the end, Harry gave into his desire to laugh, and he started chuckling – softly at first, but growing louder as Ron's face went from green to red in embarrassment.

"I… er… am sorry I jumped to conclusions," Ron sputtered out a heartbeat later.

"Don't worry about it mate," Harry graciously countered, his laughter still bubbling up as he grinned at his best friend. "But, um, you're going to have to face your sister on your own. You know that right?"

Ron paled even more and looked as if he was going to be sick at the thought of facing his sister now. Hermione shook her head when he looked over towards her and he buried his head in his hands and groaned softly.

Several hours later the three of them could be found tucked up in Harry's room pouring over three of the thickest books that Hermione had brought with her – searching through the dusty volumes and taking notes on possible horcruxes and their locations as well as on the possible types of protection spells that Voldemort might have placed on the objects in order to protect them.

By the time supper rolled around, they were comparing notes and marking down points of reference on a large map of England that the Order had loaned to them. When it became apparent that a pattern was emerging, they quickly gathered up the scattered parchments and packed their belongings before slipping out the backdoor. Ten minutes later, they were hurtling through random villages as the knight bus jumped from town to town - hanging on for dear life as they waited for the bus to take them to London where they'd meet up with several Order members before setting out after the remaining horcruxes.

In the back of Harry's mind, the revelation that the wizarding world wasn't as secret as they'd always believed danced in and out of his thoughts as he sped towards his destiny.

* * *

*** * * THE END * * ***


End file.
